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How Much Do Tech Bosses Really Earn? (dice.com)
Nerval's Lobster writes: Everybody knows that tech's top figures, such as Google CEO Larry Page or Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, are worth billions of dollars thanks to stock options. But how much do everyday tech executives -- the CIOs, Chief Data Officers, and so on -- earn? Generally between $150,000 and $175,000 per year, not [including] possible perks such as stock options, according to a new analysis. That's based on national data, although anyone who works in tech knows that in high-demand areas such as Silicon Valley, salaries can skyrocket far higher for those with highly specialized skill sets and the right mix of experience. It's a good time to be a Pointy-Haired Boss, but then again, when isn't it?
And the data is BS as well. These numbers are way too low in terms of the "top out". In a large corporation the CIO will be earning a multi-million package and there will often be 10's or 100''s of people in the USD1M+ group. The comment about Equity is also irrelevant as only total compensation is the only number that matters - who cares how much is base and how much is variable (bonus)?
You might be surprised. Yes, I'm sure that far more than $200k is the norm, but publicly traded companies disclose pay - including exercised equity - for senior officers. I did a broad survey of larger companies (but not top 50) a few year back, and what I found was that CEO and CFO typically made about $1M, as did COO (most companies don't have that separate from CEO). Other officers typically made a lot less, in the $300-$500k range. Of course they could be accumulating equity that they're not selling (or option not exercised).
Top executive pay is very mush like the pay of top Hollywood actors, professional athletes, university presidents, and college football coaches. They all have the same "competitive bidding for talent" (real or imagined talent) pushing up comp. It seems odd to me to obsess only on CEO pay when it's about the same as all these other guys.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
>"You are leaving out the most prominent bit of "non-salary" compensation: bonuses."
Actually, not only did I not leave it out, I uppercased it.